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4 tips to write a good email (business)

Interested in making a career development that will improve your life and career? If you improve your email writing technique, you will possibly make your colleagues’ lives easier and have the possibility to change the world. Despite the increase in social media and various communication platforms, email communication in the workplace isn’t going anywhere and therefore you need to understand how to write a good email. Email writing will remain the primary way we communicate in business for quite some time. Therefore, you want to write the kind of emails your colleagues or those employers you reach out to understand. Chances are you are going to spend most of your work day sorting through and sending emails. So, having effective communication skills could reduce the time spent dealing with those pesky emails you have to see when at work.

Email Tip 1: Get your subject line right

Writing a subject line on an email is an art. Up to a third of consumers either will or won’t open an email you sent based solely on the subject line of the email. So no pressure. A lot of research shows that a personalised subject line gets upward of 50 percent open rates. So a useful subject line for writing a good email might be;

“Job Inquiry – Your Name”

“Social Media Graduate Expert Seeking New Opportunity”

“Meeting Request – Your Name”

It’s important to keep your subject line professional. So nothing avoid any informal words or phrases such as; “hey” or “What’s Up”. Use only professional and polite language throughout. Crucial tip for email writing 101.

Email Tip 2: Keep it short

Unless you’re publishing some short of a newsletter, keep your emails short. This applies to all emails you send and lies in the basis of how to write a good email. Whether they are interoffice emails, outreach emails, sales emails or even promotional emails. Keep it short because nobody wants to spend a second longer in their inbox than needed.

The average time spent reading an email increased nearly from 7% since 2011

So how short should these emails be? Remember that last assignment or essay you submitted, picture that except think a couple of hundred words less. Your emails should be around 70 – 100 words. Studies find that email with 70 – 100 words will receive upwards of roughly 51% response rate. So when writing an email think less essay and more straight to the point.

Email Tip 3: Try to include one “big Idea” per email

Let’s be honest – you’re sending an email for a reason. There has to be an overlying reason for why you have sent an email in the first place. So, how do you best phrase this in a good email? Here are some examples of ways to do that;

“The main thing to remember is….”

“The key takeaway from our conversation is…”

“The one thing I need from you, right now is….”

Be sure however, to avoid using open ended questions. You need to try express what you are saying using statements, such as;

“I believe the best choice is to launch the campaign on Wednesday. If you agree, let me know and i’ll proceed with it’s launch. If not, let’s talk through what needs to change.”

Instead of:

“So, guys what do you think? I’m open to ideas.”

Email Tip 4: Close Strong

Whenever possible, end with some of the most beautiful words on Earth. Signing off emails with phrases like Best Regards, Sincerely or Take Care are very generic. According to findings from Boomerang – emails that close with a variation, other than the words specified above, got significantly more responses than emails ending with popular closings. So, maybe consider closing your emails by saying thanks.

When you write better emails, you set a new barometer of excellence when approaching employers for opportunities.

You might not be destined to be the Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama, but you now have the knowledge to go and send a good email that will land you your next internship or graduate job.

So show your future employer how awesome emails should be and land that internship or graduate job.